When Laura Gonzales watched as newly elected Pope Leo XIV spoke to the crowd at St. Peter’s Square in Rome — and to the rest of the world — she screamed with joy.
She knew him.
Gonzales, a parishioner at St. Joseph the Worker Church in Winnetka, is from Peru. More specifically, she’s from Chiclayo, Peru, the same place where Pope Leo — then known as Father Robert Prevost — was appointed bishop by Pope Francis in late 2014.
She remembers returning to Chiclayo a few years ago and attending a Mass celebrated by Prevost.
“The pope gave me Communion,” Gonzales said through tears of joy.
“He has seen the needs of my people and how much poverty there is in my country, and he has worked with such unity. I have friends who have worked with him, and they’ve called me and told me this.
“I heard he cares about the community and he's humble.”
As word quickly spread throughout the Archdiocese of Los Angeles Thursday that there was white smoke pouring from the Sistine Chapel in Rome — “Habemus papam” — local Catholics like Gonzales began pondering what the new pope, an American pope, might mean for the future of the Church.
At St. Cornelius Church in Long Beach, the daily Mass was offered for the newly elected pontiff. Miguel Macias-Casas is among those who attended, accompanied by two friends.
Macias-Casas, who runs the parish’s Young Adult Ministry, said that while he appreciated that Pope Francis helped bridge gaps among many people, some of his messages were open to misinterpretation.
He said he’s hoping that the new pontiff will provide “greater clarity.”
“I think that's what a lot of people, especially young people, just want to know,” he said. “What it is we’re supposed to do to be faithful to God.”
The fact that Pope Leo is an American who speaks English was a bonus, he said.
“It's nice to know that if I met him, I could probably talk to him being able to speak the same language,” Macias-Casas said.
At Catholic schools across the archdiocese, there was an especially exuberant excitement at the news of a new pope.
At St. Bernard Catholic School in Bellflower, Principal Aaron De Loera was in a meeting when the nearby TV suddenly began displaying images of white smoke in Rome. Word spread through the pre-K-8 school, and suddenly screens in the classrooms were broadcasting the big news.
Students began cheering and jumping up and down. De Loera went into classrooms donning a pope-style hat, chanting and praying with the students. Some students were so glued to what was happening in Rome that they — gasp — skipped recess.
“They were like, ‘Can we stay? Can we watch?’ So I was like, of course, my door’s open,” said third-grade teacher Stephanie Briseno. “They actually had their snack in here, and some of them didn't even go to play. When they saw the pope was coming out, they were just all shouting and super happy and excited.”
Second-grade teacher Michele Worley had just been to Rome, one of the many local Catholics who went there for the canonization of Blessed Carlo Acutis, only to end up at Pope Francis’ funeral instead.
After that period of mourning, seeing the newly elected Pope Leo XIV roused her, giving her faith a feeling of being “on fire.”
“It's just like a renewed kind of hope and faith,” Worley said. “It’s very exciting, and seeing [the students] so excited, it’s kind of like a full circle moment for all of us.”
At Our Lady of Mount Carmel School in Santa Barbara, students were elated to learn that a new pope had been chosen, said Principal Tracie Simolon.
Students learned about the papal succession process as part of their studies, and prayed for the conclave and the cardinals at their May crowning Mass this week, she said.
As white smoke began to billow from the Sistine Chapel, the school made a campus-wide announcement about the news.
“As I was sitting in my office, I could hear yelling and cheering coming from our classrooms,” she said. “It was a lot of fun to see how excited our students were.”
Simolon said the school “hummed” with enthusiasm all day, as students reveled in the fact that the new pope is home-grown.
“We weren’t necessarily anticipating that our new pope would be from the United States, so we were very pleasantly surprised,” she said. “I think many of the students are feeling very proud and energized by that.”
At St. Christopher Parish School in West Covina, the news was also received with optimism and hope, said Principal Rhonda Olvera.
Live video from the Sistine Chapel was broadcast in all of the classrooms, and students began to cheer when the new pope was revealed, she said.
Pupils across all grade levels had learned about how a pope is elected and what it means for the Church, Olvera said. They were thrilled with the news because they were taught that the conclave was “guided by the Holy Spirit,” she said.
“They are not just being chosen by humans; it’s divine intervention,” Olvera said. “That’s what they’re most excited about.”
When Father Sergio Sandoval, associate pastor at St. Philip Neri Church in Lynwood, first heard there was a new pope, he began reading up on him, liking him increasingly the more he read.
“His security and his charism are what drew me to him,” Sandoval said. “As I read his biography, I felt connected to him. My first impression of the pope was that he seemed like a secure and peaceful man, who even invited us to be at peace.”
As the day continued, Sandoval began receiving messages and photos from his Peruvian friends, showing how Pope Leo XIV was a man of the people during his time in Peru.
“I’m not too sure how close they were with [Pope Leo], but they shared photos with me — pictures of him just being human, like serving food to himself,” Sandoval said.
As he saw the images, he said it was “beautiful” to see the pope from that perspective.
As Thursday drew to a close, many faithful in the archdiocese said the real beauty of Pope Leo XIV’s election is the anticipation of the fruits of faith that may lie ahead.
“As a community, we’re just holding our new pope in prayer, for his leadership and entrusting his mission to care for all of the Catholic community,” Olvera said.
“As a Catholic school leader, I view his appointment as a moment of grace, renewal for the church. I’m looking forward to seeing how he's going to guide us in deepening our faith and promoting Catholic education, particularly, and just looking forward to how he will help us to inspire our students to live out the Gospel.”
